Chamber gives out business awards

There are over a dozen business award winners in the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce awards gala at the Valhalla Inn. The winners are:
Members:
Commitment to Quality-Exquisite Gold & Gems, TBayTel
Secondary Entrepreneurial Spirit Award-Marian Harkof
Small Business Excellence Award-Kuch Stephenson Gibson Malo
Large Business Excellence Award-RBC Royal Bank
Not For Profit Excellence Award-Dilico Anishinabek Family Centre
New Business Excellence Award-Porter Airlines Ltd.
Customer Service Award-Quality Market
Looking Good Member-Janzen's Pharmacy
Quality of Life Award-Wardop Engineering Ltd.
Environmental Stewardship Award-City of Thunder Bay Facilities and Fleet Dept.
Non-Members:
Business Excellence Award-Intercity Auto Centre
New Business Excellence Award-JustParts.com
Customer Service Award-Coles Book Shop
Pictured: Kuch, Stephenson, Gibson, Malo receive Small Business Excellence Award sponsored by
Magic 99.9 and the Giant 105.3

               
                          

River Terrace residents concerned

Controversy appears to be brewing over a planned expansion of the River Terrace subdivision near the Health Sciences Centre. Councillor Larry Hebert says residents have concerns about losing some trees as their buffer zone against noise. Residents will ask councillors Monday to turn down the developers request.

Supporters of wind farm get together

Support for the proposed Nor'Wester wind farm is beginning to show through. A group of them gathered for a luncheon recently.  One of them was Phil Fralick of Lakehead University.  He says he supports it because climate change is a reality here on earth and we have to start doing things that will start mitigating the problems of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.  About a hundred supporters of the wind farm gathered for a Friday luncheon.

Wind blows down tree on Finlayson St.

High winds are responsible for this downed tree at the rear of 222 Finlayson Street. No one was hurt in the incident. Environment Canada meteorologist Geoff Coulson says wind gusts were measured at the Thunder Bay Airport at 67 kilometres per hour.

Wind farm back before Council

The Big Thunder Wind Park may get some debate at City Hall Monday evening. Councillors could decide not to approve the location of the wind turbines until the Environmental Assessment is released. The CEO of Horizon Wind Anthony Zwig says he's not sure about the process that is taking place, but says his company will continue with its own plans and release the assessment when he feels its appropriate.   Councillors could  also vote to make a location decision May 17th.

House fire keep Thunder Bay Fire and Rescue Busy

The Thunder Bay Fire and Rescue dealt with a two alarm fire on Rona Street. Crews were called just before 11 o'clock for a house fire just off of Hodder. People were in the house but luckily no one was hurt.

Wind snaps a tree on Huron Ave.

No one is injured after high winds snapped a tree on some power lines at 1037 Huron Avenue. The incident took place just after 10 am Friday morning. Fire and hydro crews were at the scene.  The winds are forecast to reach up to 60 km/hr.

Bachelors of Hope fundraiser another success

The 12th annual Bachelors for Hope Auction was another success. Over 63 thousand dollars was raised brining the 12 year total to just under 600 thousand dollars raised for breast cancer research.

Shippam falls short of the North Pole

Thunder Bays' Dale Shippam is safe after quite an adventure near the North Pole. Shippam is a heart transplant patient who tried to ski to the Pole with his doctor Heather Ross. However, wife Peggy Shippam says they came up short. She says a moving arctic ice floe proved too dangerous.   She says eventually a helicopter rescued them from their camp and the high winds and minus 40 degree temperatures.

Federal Saguenay first "saltie" of the season

The Federal Saguenay is the first ocean going ship of the season in the the Port of Thunder Bay this year. It arrived Thursday morning and had a difficult time docking at the Viterra grain elevator. Heavy Fog made visibility very low and the ship ended up brushing a grain storage container causing minimal damage. Before heading out to Belgium, it loaded up with some canary and flax seed.

NAPS graduates nine officers

Nine constables will join the ranks of the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service at a ceremony on Friday afternoon.  The graduates are:   Hector Vecchio, Gabriella Balog, Shannon Dyck, Mackenzie Schussler, Troy Wlodarek, Mark Lefavre, Dwaine Howe, Bryan Halcro and Jim Andrew.   Constable Halcro is scheduled to deliver the valedictorian address and be presented with the award for Outstanding Achievement.

Med students complete Dryden training

Two Thunder Bay medical students who spent 8 months practising at Dryden Regional Health Centre are saying goodbye. Kristie Skunta and Marlon Hheerty have completed their training . Hheerty says working in a rural community is important. He says unlike a big hospital he will get to see almost everytype of ailment that comes through the door. Both students will be returning to Thunder Bay for fourth-year Medicial studies.

Fog lifts

A blanket of fog affecting parts of Thunder Bay much of Thursday has lifted. Areas next to Lake Superior were heavily affected like Marina Park where the waterfront development project is underway. Environment Canada meteorologist Geoff Coulson says the fog did clear off from the Thunder Bay Airport by mid afternoon with the rest of the city several hours later. Meantime, the fog along the north shore of Lake Superior is causing zero visibility to Marathon, and is expected to linger much longer. Coulson adds we should wake up to a clearer day on Friday.

No panic at local travel agencies

Air traffic into and across much of Europe is grounded today by an ash cloud from a volcano in Iceland. However it's not causing headaches for Thunder Bay travel agents. The manager of My Travel, Katie Zuber, says very few people from here travel to Europe in April, because it's the off season.   Zuber says summer is the peak time for European travel.

College and TBayTel become partners

Confederation College and TBay Tel have signed a partnership, but it has nothing to do with money. TBayTel will provide tech experts to the college as consultants. College President Pat Lang says in exhange TBay Tel utilizes tech students from the institution.  TBayTel CEO Don Campbell says it doesn't give the utility a leg up for any contracts.  Both the College and TBay Tel says the agreement will not inhibit the competitive process

Grass fires keeping Thunder Bay Fire and Rescue busy

Despite this week's light rain there will still be a fire ban in the city this weekend. Deputy Fire Chief Greg Hankkio says the conditions are extremely dry right now and as a result crews have had to deal with 65 grass fires since the beginning of March. Hankkio says a large number of the fires are being started by youth and discarded cigarette butts. Hankkio says until we see significant rain the burning ban will stay in place.

NOACC meets in Sioux Lookout

The Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce are meeting in Sioux Lookout. Chief Operating Officer Harold Wilson says a major issue at the gathering will be a request to the McGuinty government to scrap the Far North Act. Wilson says the act would prevent First Nations from developing half the land in the far north. The featured speaker this year is federal Treasury Board President Stockwell Day. Wilson says its a great opportunity to hear first hand how the federal government can work with the north to address issues here.

Lac des Iles back in operation

It's back to business at the Lac des Iles Mine north of Thunder Bay. North American Palladium says it has restarted production at the mine after it was closed down in 2008 because of low prices for the commodity. However now that prices are a lot higher,  the company says opening the underground mine makes sense. It will operate 7 days a week with 2-12 hour shifts employing 180 people.

LeBlanc still wants Thunder Bay team

Anthony LeBlanc is confident he will have good news for Thunder Bay in a matter of months. LeBlanc is continuing his efforts to have a junior hockey team located in the city. It comes in spite of his company,  Ice Edge Holdings,  losing out in it's bid to snag the Phoenix Coyotes franchise. LeBlanc says getting a hockey team here did not hinge on the Phoenix bid

Cats sign Canadian

More signings for Thunder Bays' boys of summer. The Border Cats have inked three more players for the upcoming Northwoods League season. Joining the Cats are third baseman P-T Kitamura, catcher Brooklyn Foster and pitcher Josh Deeg. Foster is the first Canadian born player to sign with the team this season. He is originally from Langley B-C but has played his baseball at Orange Coast College in San Diego.